ED032-10
Climate Champions: A K12-University-Community Response to our Climate Crisis
Friday, 11 December 2020: 07:28
Virtual
Nan Renner1, Cheryl L Peach1, Kathryn Schulz2, Kim Douillard3, Osvaldo Soto4, Sherice Clarke5, Chenoa Musillo5, Ashley Bachelor5 and Crystal Howe6, (1)University of California San Diego, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA, United States, (2)University of California San Diego, San Diego Science Project, La Jolla, CA, United States, (3)University of California San Diego, San Diego Area Writing Project, La Jolla, United States, (4)University of California San Diego, UCSD Math Project, La Jolla, United States, (5)University of California San Diego, Education Studies, La Jolla, United States, (6)San Diego County Office of Education, San Diego, United States
Abstract:
Solving the climate crisis requires creating
climate champions of all ages — people who are educated on climate science, passionate about addressing the climate crisis, and engaged in concrete efforts to “bend the curve” of global warming across all sectors of our society. Teachers play a central role in educating the next generation of climate leaders, but barriers persist to realizing effective climate education in our nation’s classrooms. In the U.S., the majority of K12 teachers (86%) believe climate change should be taught, yet only 42% teach about climate (NPR/Ipsos, 2019). Most teachers don’t teach about climate because they say it doesn’t relate to the subjects they teach. Yet global climate is a rich, complex, interdisciplinary topic of relevance to all of humanity that extends across and beyond science. Developing skills in all subjects including mathematics, reading, writing, and science, is essential to understanding, communicating, and taking action on climate related issues. Changing climate, and its myriad local to global impacts, is a powerful vehicle for teaching across many subjects.
Recognizing the need for multidisciplinary and multigenerational approaches to creating climate champions, the University of California San Diego has launched a collaborative initiative focused on the climate crisis, offering a regional model for addressing a global problem. This presentation will describe how Climate Champions brings together individuals, networks, and resources from K12 multiple subjects, the university, and the broader community to advance K12 climate education with regional relevance. Through collaboration among key leaders in UC San Diego Social Sciences, CREATE (Center for Research on Educational Equity, Assessment, and Teaching Excellence), Birch Aquarium, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and the San Diego County Office of Education, we are leveraging our collective strengths to catalyze local climate education, passion, and engagement to achieve climate justice.
We will describe how this pilot project is pursuing three local goals for solving a global problem:
– Increasing K12 climate literacy in collaboration with teachers and students;
– Changing public discourse connecting the climate crisis with social justice;
– Catalyzing civic engagement and conservation action.
